[cover]

Communities and Workforce Development

Edwin Meléndez, New School University, Editor  

 

"Overall, the book is an interesting look at the state of nonprofit employment training during a period of policy and economic change. The way the editor structured the book helped me digest the qualitative research that makes up the bulk of the collection. The first three parts begin with a larger overview of an issue followed by essays that provide more detailed examples. These case study-based essays demonstrate how the trends discussed in the overview are embodied in a few examples and highlight new innovations not captured in the overview." Journal of Regional Science
Introductory chapter | Table of Contents

During the 1990s, several factors led to the emergence of a new breed of labor market intermediaries (LMIs). The growing demand for workers, the effects of welfare reform, and the revamping of federal employment and training programs under the Workforce Investment Act led LMIs to become more active, competitive, and specialized in their workforce development activities.

This volume reveals how, as a result of policy reforms at the national, state, and local levels, programming by different institutions converged with innovative professional practices to transform the employment services industry. The contributors show how these reforms spurred employment service providers to substantially revamp their operations by promoting the principles of universal access, integration of federal funding streams, devolution of policy to local authorities, and work-first as a starting point for employment services. As a result, many new programs were started by nontraditional institutions, traditional programs underwent rapid transformations, and some providers exited the industry.

The studies presented here constitute a first step towards a comprehensive assessment of the role that community organizations played in revamping the employment services industry. Most importantly, they show how a new style of labor market intermediary has evolved from focusing almost exclusively on the provision of employment services to job seekers to simultaneously addressing the needs of both job seekers and employers. Included are:

  • Communities and Workforce Development in the Era of Devolution, Edwin Meléndez
  • Competing for Contracts: Nonprofit Survival in an Age of Privatization, M. Bryna Sanger
  • CBOs and the One-Stop Career Center System, Ramón Borges-Méndez and Edwin Meléndez
  • Union-Sponsored Workforce Development Initiatives, Beverly Takahashi, and Edwin Meléndez
  • Addressing the Employment Challenge for the Formerly Homeless: Supportive Housing in New York City, Alex Schwartz, Edwin Meléndez, and Sarah Gallagher
  • Workforce Development in the Information Technology Age, Michael A. Stoll
  • Community Technology Centers: Training Disadvantaged Workers for Information Technology Jobs, Lisa J. Servon
  • Beyond the First Job: Career Ladder Initiatives in Information Technology Industries, Laura Wolf-Powers
  • Community Colleges, Welfare Reform, and Workforce Development, Edwin Meléndez, Luis M. Falcón, Carlos Suárez-Boulangger, Lynn McCormick, and Alexandra de Montrichard
  • Innovators Under Duress: Community Colleges in New York’s Workfare Setting, Lynn McCormick
  • Community Colleges as Workforce Intermediaries: Building Career Ladders for Low-Wage Workers, Joan Fitzgerald
  • Interorganizational Networks among Community-Based Organizations, Héctor R. Cordero-Guzmán
  • Corporate-Community Workforce Development Collaborations, Stacey A. Sutton
    • Related titles
  • Do Community Colleges Respond to Local Needs?, Duanme E. Leigh and Andrew M. Gill
  • Job Training That Gets Results, Michael S. Bernick
  • Job Training Policy in the United States, Christopher J. O'Leary, Robert A. Straits, and Stephen A. Wandner, Editors
  • Labor Exchange Policy in the United States, David E. Balducchi, Randall W. Eberts, and Christopher J. O'Leary, Editors
  • Targeting Employment Services, Randall W. Eberts, Christopher J. O'Leary, and Stephen A. Wandner, Editors
  • Unemployment Insurance in the United States: Analysis of Policy Issues, Christopher J. O'Leary and Stephen A. Wandner, Editors
  • Reemployment Bonuses in the Unemployment Insurance System , Philip K. Robins and Robert G. Spiegelman, Editors
    • 499 pp. 2004
    $70 cloth ISBN 0-88099-317-0 / ISBN-13 978-0-88099-317-3
    $25 paper ISBN 0-88099-316-2 / ISBN-13 978-0-88099-316-6

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